1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to accessories for hard hats and drop-prevention devices. Particularly, the present invention relates to a tether clip for hard hats.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hard hats are a mandatory safety item used in or around electrical power plants, chemical plants, construction sites, warehouses, and other industrial sites. Their use is mandated through safety programs and addresses overhead hazards present in these industries. Hard hats are intended to be a type of safety equipment that will protect the wearer from overhead hazards as well as from bumping one's head in areas of low clearance.
A conventional hard hat is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an example of a hard hat 300 as is known in the art. Hard hat 300 includes a cap portion 301 with a brim 302, which are typically made of high-density polyethylene. Along the sides of the cap portion 301 and adjacent brim 302, hard hat 300 has a pair of oppositely positioned universal accessory slots 310 (only one is visible) where each accessory slot 310 has an accessory slot opening 312 between a first slot wall 314 and a second slot wall 316 that opposes and is spaced apart from first slot wall 314. Typically, accessory slot opening 312 has a length 312a of about three centimeters and a width 312b of about three millimeters.
FIG. 2 illustrates a bottom plan view of the hard hat shown in FIG. 1. Accessory slot openings 312 extend through brim 302. These accessory slots 310 are used for attaching face shields, flashlights, hearing protection, and other accessories, where the accessory includes a tab or plate that inserts and locks into accessory slots 310.
In some cases, the hard hat is considered a hazard itself. For instance, in most industrial work sites where overhead work is being performed, workers are typically wearing a hard hat. If a worker leans over or bumps his/her head, the hard hat may fall off the wearer's head. The falling hard hat can become a drop hazard to personnel or vital plant equipment below.
In other cases, such as at nuclear power plants, workers often will work from a bridge crane that straddles a reactor vessel filled with water. If the hard hat falls off the worker, it may land in the pool of water. If the hard hat cannot be retrieved before it sinks, then the retrieval process may be time consuming and very costly. Typically, a nuclear power plant will lose approximately $100,000 per hour of down time during a refueling or maintenance outage. Depending on where the hat comes to rest, it could take several hours to retrieve the hard hat and consequently delay the plant from coming back online.
A chin strap used with a hard hat is one method to keep the hard hat on a wearer's head. However this method can be uncomfortable and cumbersome. Also, hard hat chin straps used in contaminated environments may become contaminated themselves since the strap is usually made of fabric that absorbs or retains liquids and particle contaminants. For this reason, items in direct contact with exposed skin require frequent cleaning prior to donning. However, hard hats are not typically laundered, even those with chin straps.
U.S. Pat. No. 701,639 (1902, Stamm) discloses a hat guard device that prevents a straw hat from blowing away. The device includes a cord, a flat tapering pin attached to one end of the cord, and a clamping device secured at the opposite end of the cord provided with two openings or eyes and a V-shaped clamping hook. The tapering pin is adapted to be pierced through the body of the hat near the brim. The cord passes through the eyes and is knotted to secure it. When the hat is not in use, the cord is tightly wrapped around the body of the hat and the clamping hook is hooked on the cord and bites into the cord to firmly retain the clamping device in position. When the hat is in use, the V-shaped clamping hook is released from the cord and passed through a lapel button hole of a coat and fastened as desired.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,991,236 (1991, Pritchett) discloses a hat retaining device with a cord that attaches at one end to a hat with an alligator clip or suspenders clip. The other end of the cord defines a loop sized to be worn around the wearer's neck.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,154,887 (2000, Yagi) discloses a hat and retaining device to prevent the hat from blowing away in windy conditions. The retaining device has a cloth string with a first end fixed to the top button of a crown of a baseball cap. In one embodiment, the first end of the cloth string is passed through a grommet in the hat and then knotted to prevent its release. In another embodiment, the first end of the cloth string is secured by sewing to cloth tape attached along seams of the crown.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,117,678 (2012, Moreau et al.) discloses a hard hat lanyard in combination with a hard hat that includes a strap with a first end and a second end. The first end is secured to a fastening mechanism that wraps around a hard hat inner brim. Alternately, a button snap is secured to the first end of the strap and is adapted to fastening to a mating snap on the hard hat cap portion. A fastening mechanism, such as a clip, is fastened to the second end is adapted to be secured to an article of clothing.